


Real Love Makes Your Lungs Black

by roryr



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Fluff, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Multi, Songfic, Terminal Illnesses, musician au, will i update this? nobody knows...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28417689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roryr/pseuds/roryr
Summary: “A college dropout walks into a bar. ‘Why the long face?’ the barman says.”“This is a Starbucks.”“Your face is nice. Want to suck mine?”(Or the Zukka Songfic no one asked for.)
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 28





	Real Love Makes Your Lungs Black

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not a writer so the pacing sucks but I hope you enjoy!

When Sokka walked into that Starbucks at 7:49 on a Sunday night he honestly had no clue what to expect. To be fair, since dropping out of college and subsequently having to move to a new apartment on a new street should have thrown him for a loop, but life had long since dealt her cards and Sokka really didn’t have the mental (or financial) capacity to dwell over something as menial as his entire life being uprooted and turned on its head. After endinng things with Suki and pursuing is (failing) career as a musician, things no longer surprised him. But what he  _ did _ have the capacity for was the very cute barista that he saw through the window on a night stroll. So of course, with eleven minutes till closing, he walked right into the otherwise empty shop.

“A college dropout walks into a bar. ‘Why the long face?’ the barman says.”

“This is a Starbucks.”

“Your face is nice. Want to suck mine?”

The barista - _ Zuko _ \- his nametag read, dragged his gorgeous hazel eyes to fix Sokka with an incredulous stare. His mouth moved but Sokka was too transfixed on wondering what those soft pink lips would feel against his.

“Hello? You with me? What do you want to order?” 

Sokka snapped back to attention, “Grande Vanilla bean latte and a disney movie date to go.”

Zuko just continued to stare at him with an unreadable look, then sighed and started to ring him up. Sokka paid and gave him what he considered a winning smile and stepped back. 

He wrote the order on the cup and went to work. Sokka was content watching him move with a mundane pace as the click of the clock on the far wall and the whirring of the machines lulled them into a silence. After a few minutes ticked by Zuko silently set the drink down and turned to start closing up shop. Sokka took it and sipped the drink (it was pretty bad for Starbucks standards, but the eye candy made up for it) and eventually the clock struck 8 and Zuko pulled off his apron.

He turned. “Well we have a movie to get to, don’t we?” 

  
  
  
  
  


After the second date Zuko felt himself slowly writing a biography in his head about the boy who had picked him up in a Starbucks. Bless his socially awkward soul, Zuko could write essays on the crease between Sokka’s brows when he had a puzzle to solve or the small glint in his eyes whenever he thought of a good line to add to one of his songs, the raspy laugh that never quite left puberty and the way he listened to Zuko like he actually  _ cared _ .

He couldn’t, however, tell you Sokka’s birthday or anything else of that context. 

Currently he was expressing this dilema to his ex-girlfriend-before-they-both-came-out ™, who gave him an ever suffering look. “You’ve been on what, two dates? You aren’t even official and you have it this bad?” She stirred her drink idly as Zuko slumped in the chair with quiet resignation. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

He looked up, “Why do you think I came to you?”

“I don’t know. To bitch.”

He sighed forlornly and sat up a bit. “Give me a serious answer, Mai. You don’t understand- he’s like- like-“ Zuko flailed his hands around as if that explained something and then blushed in embarrassment as Mai laughed at him. “Shut up! I don’t know how to explain it- I get all warm and fuzzy and awkward and I can’t say anything except sarcastic quips! This is a serious problem.”

“Have you made it official yet?” She asked after a moment, finally serious. Zuko blinked like a deer in headlights and was suddenly very interested in the half eaten, soggy enchilada on his plate. Mai glared at him. “Just ask him out, Zuko. It seems like you both are all oogie for each other but don’t have the balls to say so,” she drawled and finished her drink, setting her payment down on the table. “If I see you again and you aren’t dating this guy yet, well, you can imagine what I’ll do.” She stood and left with a flip of her hair, leaving Zuko to his dilemma and mediocre mexican food.

  
  


~~~~

  
  


Sokka had been staring at his phone for a good twenty minutes. Every time he went to pick it up he suddenly had a very important thing to do- like rearrange his sock drawer or clean the desk for the thirty fifth time. Okay,  _ maybe  _ he was procrastinating, but you can’t blame a guy. He had been debating whether or not to call Zuko even though he had been the one to set up the past two dates. On one hand he didn’t want to seem overeager and on the other hand he wanted any chance he could get to see the awkward little spitfire. Sure, he was broody, socially awkward, and a little rude, but Sokka just knew deep down he was a cuddly little otter-cat and he’d be damned if he didn’t get through all of those layers. Just as he was about to hit the call button, his phone buzzed as the caller screen popped up. He only read ‘Zuko’ and clicked accept lightning flash.

“Hey.” Tui and La, that raspy voice was going to be the death of him.

“Hey,” he managed to stammer out, stomach doing flip flops. Man, he had it hard. Did he used to feel like this with Suki? With Yue? A small shuffling of fabric on the other side of the phone told Sokka that Zuko was rubbing his sleeve on his thigh, one of his nervous tics.

“I was uh, wonder if you’d like to. Um-“

“Yes,” Sokka interrupted.

“I didn’t even finish my sentence,” Zuko said with annoyance, but Sokka could hear the joking lilt in his voice.

“I’m telepathic, babe. You should know this already.” Sokka could practically feel Zuko blush on the other side.

“Be over soon,” he said and hung up. Sokka counted that as a win in his book.

  
  
  
  


_ Oh fuck oh Agni why did I say that?  _ Zuko was frantically cleaning his apartment while a pre-made chicken sat roasting in the oven. He had  _ planned _ on taking Sokka out to walk around downtown with all of the fall decorations, maybe get some apple cider and kiss by the fountain while street artists seronated them but he had panicked like an idiot and invited him over. So here he was, trying to make his messy apartment presentable and Sokka would be here any minute. The knocker on the door sounded out and broke his monologue. Zuko rushed over and opened the door.

They both stared at each other for a moment, disheveled and eyes wide.

“I’m a horse.” Sokka spoke first, breaking the silence.

“What?”

“That was the punchline. To my pickup line. Then I would ask you to ride me.”

Zuko blinked. The corners of his lips turned up as he started to shake with silent laughter, until he was doubled over as giggles bubbled from his mouth. Mirth danced in his eyes as he looked back up to Sokka’s, gold on blue.

“Your face is nice,” Zuko said and then his lips were on Sokka’s and suddenly the world made sense. It was as desperate as it was tender and it told them more than words could ever try, then before they could memorize how the other tastes the alarm for the chicken went off and Zuko was leading Sokka inside.

  
  
  


After dinner they had holed up on the couch, talking about whatever passed their minds. (Rather, Sokka did most of the talking and Zuko added his input every now and then to assure the other he was listening.) During their easy chatter a guitar resting on the far wall interrupted Sokka’s speech about the tooth fairy being one of the FDA’s most wanted.

“Do you play?” he asked and pointed.

“Oh, no I don’t. It was a gift from my ex after he got a new one.” Sokka nodded and retrieved it, strumming some chords as he tuned the dusty instrument. “I sing, though.”

Sokka raised a brow, urging him to continue. Zuko does. “I’ve never really played instruments, but I write and sing. It started in highschool as a hobby and I guess I never stopped.”

Sokka lit up instantly, “That’s so cool! I’ve been playing piano since I could walk and picked up guitar in middle school. Writing songs is fun too but I have trouble putting the words into music. Do you mind showing me a song?” 

Zuko nodded and got up to rummage around in his book case, “I have the same problem but with adding instrumentals to the song. I can show you some of my favorites, if you’d like.” 

Sokka grinned and made ‘gimme’ hands as he took the worn composition book and started to flip through. Zuko watched as he scanned the words with quiet satisfaction. It was always like this, it seemed. Whenever he was with Sokka he didn’t feel judged, or lesser than. He could open up and just enjoy the way he took his bottom lip into his teeth when he concentrated, or the quiet drum of fingers to an invisible beat only he could hear. 

Fuck, he was falling hard.

“Zukes, this is amazing.” Sokka looked over and Zuko searched his sea blue eyes for any dishonesty to find none, letting his heart swell with something he refused to call love. “Do you want to play it with me?”

“Uh, sure. Improv?” Sokka nodded and handed the book back over, pointing to the one he titled  _ Lukewarm _ that he had written a while back. 

_ (Play Lukewarm by Penelope Scott) _

“Alright.” Sokka tapped his foot in a faux metronome and strummed the guitar with a small reverb,

_ Put your index finger in your mouth _

_ And scratch your cheek real slow _

_ Draw blood _

_ Taste water _

_ And drink until there’s no more  _

The reverb faded out into a harsh barre chord and Zuko struggled to keep up.

_ Throw a punch watch it sail through the air _

_ Keep talking but there’s nobody there _

_ Can’t remember anything that you say _

_ Slit your throat and die and wake up the next day _

The chorus started as they slowly fell into sync, music echoing through the apartment with twin smiles on their faces.

_ I wanna scream _

_ I wanna run _

_ I’d die at 22 to feel alive at 21  _

_ It’s lukewarm _

_ And stale bread _

_ I wanna put a magic bullet in my head _

_ It’s lukewarm _

_ It’s stale bread _

_ I wanna get my heavy bones out of bed _

Zuko’s voice cracked and split, and the guitar's chords slipped but it was a beautiful raw cacophony. They slipped into it willingly as the world fell away and all that was left was the sound of their music and the presence of each other.

_ I couldn't pass the Turing test if I _

_ Had the answer sheet _

_ I wanna leave everyone who loves me _

_ 'Cause I'm so sad and they're so sweet _

_ The news used to make me cry every time _

_ I'd rather cry than come tonight _

_ Can't even give a fuck in my dreams _

_ Oh what I wouldn't give to care enough to scream _

_ I wanna scream _

_ I wanna run _

_ I'd die at 22 to feel alive at 21 _

_ It's lukewarm _

_ And stale bread _

_ I wanna put a magic bullet in my head _

_ I wanna put a magic bullet in my bed _

_ Snort coke _

_ Get fucked _

_ Go to church and pray to live a life that doesn't suck _

_ Read books _

_ And get laid _

_ And maybe God will let me fucking die one day _

They broke off into laughter, falling into each other's sides even as the guitar dug into Zuko's ribs and his elbow landed painfully in Sokka’s face but the adrenaline and laughter didn’t stop. Aftera few minutes of trailing off then looking at each other and starting up again they quieted down, Sokka looked at Zuko tenderly.

“You’re handsome when you laugh.” Zuko felt his ears grow warm and he glared, hiding his face in the crook of Sokka’s arm, mumbling something that was lost in his shirt.

“Speak up, love.” Sokka smirmed triumphantly when he saw the tips of Zuko’s ears burn crimson.

Zuko removed his face and locked gazes with Sokka. “I don’t see it.”

Sokka rose a brow. “Really? Because I do.” Zuko shifted into a more comfortable position onto Sokka’s lap, moving the guitar to the ground.

“I guess you’ll have to show me.” His eyes tilted up in teasingly as he shyly ran his hands up Sokka’s side.

“Baby, I’ll show you the world.”

  
  


~~~


End file.
